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Big Nipper
Big Nipper is a flat invertible robot that takes part in the UK live events circuit, as well as the original and rebooted runs of Robot Wars. It is well known for its horizontal crushing jaws mounted on a lifting arm that can move 270 degrees and lift 200kg. It took part in the fifth series of Robot Wars ''where it lost in round 1 of Series 5 to eventual champion Razer. After being redesigned and rebuilt, it reached its heat final of Series 7, losing to The Grim Reaper. It was redesigned once more for Series 8 of ''Robot Wars, falling in the round robin and finishing third in its heat and returned in Series 10. Big Nippers design and tactics have brought it more success in live events, including winning the 2007 UK Heavyweight Championships and the 2012 UK Heavyweight Championships, as well as finishing 3rd in 2004, 2006 & 2008. Robot History Robot Wars Series 5 Big Nipper was given a very unlucky draw in Series 5, coming up against the 4th seeds Razer in the first round of the heat. However, Big Nipper started better, driving up Razer's scoop and breaking one of the self-righting wings. Unfortunately, Big Nipper couldn't evade Razer for long and Razer quickly got its beak through the top of Big Nipper. Big Nipper escaped, but was quickly caught again and lifted into the air. Razer dropped Big Nipper over the flame pit, and bending one of Big Nipper's claws out of place. Razer pushed Big Nipper into Shunt's CPZ, where the house robot axed the top of Big Nipper, immobilising it completely. The Refbot then counted Big Nipper out, eliminating it from the competition. Robot Wars Series 7 Big Nipper returned for Series 7 with a thicker body. In its first melee, it was against The Grim Reaper, Kan-Opener and Barbaric Response. Barbaric Response began by rushing in and tossing Big Nipper across the arena slightly. The Grim Reaper then came in and also flipped Big Nipper, but the invertible machine ran back into the action immediately. Big Nipper raised The Grim Reaper onto an angle grinder, before assailing Barbaric Response unsuccessfully. The Grim Reaper and Big Nipper continued their duel until cease was called, with all four robots still mobile. The judges then decided to put Big Nipper through to the second round of the heat along with The Grim Reaper. Big Nipper's team were not afraid of their second-round matchup, as it was noted that Big Nipper's height was lower than its opponents weapon. Big Nipper unfazed by Jackson Wallop's weapon as a result, was able to shunt its opponent into the arena walls repeatedly, stopping its spinner each time. Big Nipper made a conscious effort not to raise its lifter, as this would give Jackson Wallop a chance to make contact with its weapon. Big Nipper used its claws to destroy a tire on Jackson Wallop and pushed it into Dead Metal's CPZ, who sawed into it, and eventually pitted Jackson Wallop, putting Big Nipper through to the next round. In the heat final, Big Nipper met The Grim Reaper once more. It was able to get straight underneath The Grim Reaper and lift it, pushing it into the arena wall. After this, however, The Grim Reaper escaped and flipped Big Nipper several times. Big Nipper's invertibility meant it could continue driving, but The Grim Reaper was leading the battle at this point. However, Big Nipper made a late comeback, and slipped underneath The Grim Reaper, pushing it into a CPZ. Big Nipper's assault didn't end, and Big Nipper carried The Grim Reaper over to the arena wall on the opposite side, where cease was called. In one of the closest heat finals in Robot Wars history, the Judges voted for The Grim Reaper, eliminating Big Nipper from the competition. 2004 UK Championships (Winter Tour) Big Nipper was one of the competitors that signed up for the Roaming Robots Winter Tour 2004 which was also the first UK Championship to take place since Robot Wars TM had left the screens. It met Terrorhurtz in a qualifier battle at Newport and won that which had given it entry into the finals at Doncaster. In the first round it beat Ewe 2 to go through to the Quarter-Finals where it managed to beat Mute. Then in the semi-finals, due to Mute having won the loser's melee, Big Nipper took on Mute again. It was given a piggy back by Mute and was pursued around and lost on a judges decision. Big Nipper then fought Ewe 2 again in the play-off. In a failed-attempt flip, Big Nipper got its jaws underneath Ewe 2's flipper, picked it up before throwing it out the arena nearly taking Big Nipper with it, but Big Nipper took 3rd place as Ewe 2 was out the arena first. 2005 UK Championships (Winter Tour) Big Nipper came back for the 2005 UK Championships being seeded 2nd as Mute who finished 2nd the previous year had to pull out. Big Nipper met Beast in its first qualifier battle at Macclesfield where it was thrown out of the arena. It returned for the Birmingham event where it turned over Terminal Ferocity before putting holes in it and dumping it down the pit which resulted in earning points for a place in the finals at Folkestone. In round 1 it met the top seed Terrorhurtz which was extremely hard for Big Nipper. Terrorhurtz pounded Big Nipper all over and Big Nipper never could get it's jaws to good use and get Terrorhurtz out the arena. The fight went to a judges decision which went against Big Nipper elliminating it from the competition. 2006 UK Championships Big Nipper returned for the 2006 UK Championships where it shared a heat with Weird Alice 2,Edge Hog and Hades. It was thrown out the arena by Hades but won its other fights against Edge Hog and Weird Alice 2. Fortunatly, Hades had lost one of its 3 battles meaning it had tied with Big Nipper so they had to fight again, Big Nipper this time won the battle after Hades broke down. In round 2, Big Nipper faced the flywheel of Scorpion and to fight them, Big Nipper had its claws replaced by a titanium scoop which worked well protecting Big Nipper. Fortunatly Scorpion's disc stopped and Big Nipper was triumphant after being the more aggressive. Next it met the dutch Pulverizer also with the scoop on in the quarter-finals where Big Nipper won the fight on a judges decision after being the more aggressive. Next it met Turbulence in the semi-final, Big Nipper managed to lift them off the ground once but Turbulence got away quickly and managed to throw Big Nipper out of the arena elliminating it from the competition. In the Play-Off, Big Nipper met Pulverizer again where it managed to claim 3rd place after being the more aggressive. 2006 Winter Tour Big Nipper came back for the Winter Tour but it only took part in one battle which was a qualifier match at Doncaster against Dantomkia. Big Nipper were doing well having a pushing contest to start off with but Dantomkia retaliated and flipped it out of the arena. 2007 UK Championships Big Nipper came back for the 2007 UK Championships at Wales, it shared its pod with Leveller 2 Mk4 and Envy. It defeated Leveller 2 Mk4 by shoving it down the pit. It was thrown out the arena by Envy in its next battle, but it had still earned enough points to go through to the finals. In round 1 it defeated Iron-Awe 5 after one of its motors failed and won its quarter-final against Beast as it carried it around the arena and was overall the more aggressive. It met Iron-Awe 5 again in the semi-final who lost drive in a motor yet again and Big Nipper had gone through to the grand-final where it met Terrorhurtz. The fight ended as Terrorhurtz broke down due to a dodgy speed controller meaning Big Nipper had claimed the 2007 UK Championship title. 2008 UK Championships As top seed and reigning champion, Big Nipper returned for 2008. It met Leveller 2 Mk4 in round 1 and beat it by picking it up and dropping it down the pit. Next it met Tiberius 4 in the quarter-finals who got turned over against the arena wall were it couldn't self-right. Next in the semi-final against Iron-Awe 5's powerful flipper, it had enormous staying power managing to keep itself within the arena but it unfortuatly drove itself into the pit elliminating it. Big Nipper then met Ripper Evo in the play-off. Big Nipper was the more aggressive over Ripper Evo who lost the bungee cord for its flipper meaning it couldn't return to the armed position. Big Nipper won the judges decision winning 3rd place. 2009 UK Championships Big Nipper also took part in the first year-long UK Championship in 2009. It met And His Army in its first qualifier match at Barnsley who was toyed with a lot before eventually going down the pit. Next it met Kan-Opener at Cardiff who also got pitted and also won its next competition fight at Swindon against St Hammer and Terrorhurtz after Terrorhurtz went down the pit. All those wins resulted in entry into the finals at Wigan at the end of the year. In the first round it met Meggamouse, reigning champion Iron-Awe 5 and Ripper Evo. Big Nipper got thrown by Iron-Awe 5 and then teamed up with the other 2 robots on Iron-Awe 5 pushing the champion down the pit. The fight went to a judges decision which was awarded to Big Nipper after it was more aggressive. Next it met Terrorhurtz in the semi-final which was really painful, Big Nipper took a lot of axe-blows from the 2004 UK Champion, one which disabled the lifter and another had damaged the speed controller causing Big Nipper to go out of control and was also elliminated. 2010 UK Championships Big Nipper came back for 2010 seeded 2nd. It won its qualifier match at Barnsley after Scorpion drove into the pit and was more aggressive over Anger. It also won its next battle at Whitwick against St Hammer, Big Nipper currently has 10 points in the championship. Robot Wars Series 8 Big Nipper appeared in Episode 3, where it fought newcomer TR2, and veterans Or Te and Supernova. In the battle, Big Nipper debuted its 4200rpm spinning disc. Big Nipper's first move in the battle was to follow the movement of Or Te, but Supernova knocked out Big Nipper's opponent before its own disc had even made contact. Big Nipper was followed by Supernova, with their spinning discs clashing, the latter winning out, knocking Big Nipper backwards, so it pressed the pit release button, yet strangely the pit did not descend. Big Nipper clashed spinning weapons with the now toothless Supernova, but an attempt to push TR2 into the now-open pit nearly sent Big Nipper skidding into the pit itself - three of its four wheels luckily stayed grounded, and Big Nipper escaped, qualifying for the next round with TR2 when Supernova fell into the pit. For its first head-to-head match, Big Nipper switched to its claws for the battle with TR2, the reason being that their disc shaft had bent in the opening melee. Big Nipper was thrown into the wall by TR2, and then flipped into the clutches of Dead Metal, which sliced into its top armour, nearly severing the safety link. When the pit was opened, Big Nipper drove right onto the edge of it again, escaping from TR2. This time, Big Nipper could not drive away, and was pushed in by TR2. Big Nipper next faced King B Remix, and returned to its spinning disc armament, with much confidence. Although it did not start perfectly, being slammed by King B, and being impaled on an arena spike after driving there themselves, and was pushed towards the pit, Big Nipper turned the battle around when it started tearing into the rear panel of King B Remix, throwing pieces of plastic across the arena floor. Two heavy hits threw King B into the air, removing its safety link. Big Nipper celebrated by spinning in the centre of the arena with its arm raised. Big Nipper had a chance to qualify for the Heat Final if they could defeat Dantomkia. It was flipped several times in the opening stages, gradually nearing Sir Killalot, which held Big Nipper above the flame pit. On a slam, however, Big Nipper ripped the end of Dantomkia's flipper off, despite being pushed back into Sir Killalot, which trapped Big Nipper before becoming stuck in the arena wall. Big Nipper's disc appeared to stop, and it was thrown into the air by Dantomkia. Avoiding Dead Metal, Big Nipper finally got its disc spinning again, ripping armour from Dantomkia and putting a bend in the flipper arm. Cease was called when Big Nipper was pushed into the arena wall, and the Judges were required to call a winner, unanimously voting in favour of Dantomkia, eliminating Big Nipper on a final score of 3 points. Results Wins/Losses *Wins: 23 *Losses: 12 Honours *Roaming Robots - Steel City Showdown 2004 Winner *3rd in Roaming Robots 2004 UK Championships *Roaming Robots - Aberystwyth 2005 Winner *Roaming Robots - Denbigh 2005 Winner *2nd in Robot Rumble 2006 (Colchester) *3rd in UK Championships 2006 *Robots Live! - Leicester 2007 Winners *UK Heavyweight Champion 2007 *Robots Live! - 2nd at Hemel Hempstead 2007 *3rd in UK Championships 2008 *Voted "Best Engineered Robot" award for 2008 *6th in UK Championships 2011 *UK Heavyweight Champion 2012 Category:Heavyweight Robots Category:British Robots Category:UK Robot Wars Competitors Category:Robot Wars Live Event Competitors Category:Robots Live! 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